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U.S. stocks extend gains after Trump's remarks on tax cut

Xinhua, February 11, 2017 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks rallied on Friday, with all three major indices hitting fresh record highs, as investors continued to digested President Donald Trump's promise to release a tax cut plan in the coming weeks.

By noon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 67.61 points, or 0.34 percent, to 20,240.01. The S&P 500 rose 5.42 points, or 0.23 percent, to 2,313.29. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 13.57 points, or 0.24 percent, to 5,728.75.

"Lowering the overall tax burden on American business is big league ... that's coming along very well. We're way ahead of schedule, I believe. And we're going to announce something I would say over the next two or three weeks that will be phenomenal in terms of tax," Trump said in a meeting on Thursday with U.S. airline executives.

Analysts said Trump's remarks and the implication of nearly imminent movement spurred the market.

On the economic front, U.S. import prices advanced 0.4 percent in January, following a 0.5-percent increase in December, according to the Labor Department Friday.

U.S. export prices increased 0.1 percent in January, after rising 0.4 percent the previous month.

Meanwhile, traders still focused on corporate earnings reports of the fourth quarter last year.

The latest data from Thomson Reuters showed that the S&P 500 companies' blended earnings in the fourth quarter of 2016 are expected to rise 8.4 percent year on year, while the revenues are forecast to increase 4.4 percent. Endite